Tights

Just when Michelle Obama made if fashionable to go without hose, fall fashion is all about tights. In South Florida, I would never don hose or tights unless it was for a special occasion. But these Wolford tights, around $58, at Bloomingdale's are tempting. And when you wear a black dress, dark hose are a must. I just better not get a run in them at nearly $60 a pop! -- Marcia "Bargain Hunter" Pounds

Don't call Charles Clay anything but his name. He's not a Chuck, or a Charlie. And even though he shares the same first and last name as his father don't dare call him Jr., or "the second" because their middle name is different. "When he was growing up I told him if anyone calls you anything but your name it's OK to punch them in the mouth," Charles Clay the father says with a chuckle. "I told him 'I'll take care of it.'" That's a running joke between Charles Clay the father and the son. But the name they share, the one they hope will carry on in the family for generations, is no laughing matter.

Short, shorter, now no skirt at all. That`s one of the things Karl Lagerfeld has done for you lately. And he`s rather proud of it. "It`s a huge success," the designer says gleefully. "It has killed the pantalon (pants), too. It takes a good body. And it looks very feminine." While at Saks Jandel in Washington recently, Lagerfeld had an example of his no-skirt fashion at its best with his assistant, Sophie de Langlade, standing nearby. She was wearing a printed cotton jacket and black tights.

By Omar Kelly and Chris Perkins and South Florida Sun Sentinel, August 22, 2014

The Dolphins cut tight end Michael Egnew, their 2012 third-round pick, on Friday, ending what turned out to be a bad experiment. The Dolphins also cut defensive tackle Micajah Reynolds and waived/injured cornerback Jalil Brown on Friday. Egnew, who attended Missouri, ends his Dolphins career with seven receptions for 69 yards and no touchdowns. Most likely the Dolphins will likely only keep three tight ends - Charles Clay and Dion Sims are locks -- and Egnew didn't have a unique skill such as blocking or receiving that required the Dolphins to keep him on the roster.

Life may not always be merry in "merry" old England, but sometimes it can be downright hilarious. Robin Hood: Men in Tights, the latest Mel Brooks spoof, is a roller-coaster of entertainment. The dashing Robin Hood (played brilliantly by Cary Elwes) returns to his homeland from long years in the crusades to learn that all is not what it should be. With his sidekick Ahchoo and a host of village men, Robin sets out to thwart the devious King John (Richard Lewis) and the infamous Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees)

This fall, designers are hitting us below the belt. Tights, aka leggings -- once the body basic of children`s wardrobes -- have grown up. And women of all ages are beginning to layer them under short skirts, long shirts, thigh-high anorak jackets and even tailored blazers. "They`re like the pants of the `90s," says Sandy Chilewich, president of Hue, a New York legwear company. The lean, leggy look, one of this fall`s most distinctive new styles, is showing up both in casual outfits and for evening, in rich fabrics like stretch velvet.

From a laboratory in North Carolina to a research center in Wilmington, Del., teams of scientists are hunkered down trying to solve one of fashion's greatest mysteries: How to get women to wear pantyhose again. In their latest bid to revive the sagging hosiery business, makers are turning to science and trotting out nylons and tights that seem more likely to show up at science fairs than on the runways of Milan. Capezio says its "microcapsules" filled with aloe -- scented with a hint of lavender -- burst as you move, to combat dry skin and chafing.

In the words of Roseanne Rosannadanna, "It`s always something." First, it was the miniskirt. But that wasn`t enough. Now it`s no skirt. None. Zip. Nada. Just lean leggings or ribbed tights, worn under nipped blazers, double- breasted jackets and tapering evening tails. The leggy look was previewed last season in Paris, where, historically, gams have kicked up a storm. (Remember the Folies Bergeres?) All the Euro-fash types (Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani, Romeo Gigli, Patrick Kelly)

"Is this the summer of the arrow and are we part of a vogue?" asked Mel Brooks just before the opening of his latest genre spoof, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. What Brooks was referring to -- three new movies that are using images of archery as a visual centerpiece in their one-sheet posters -- is more of a movie marketing blip than a vogue. It was not only Universal`s decision to use an arrow (actually a spear) motif in its poster for the upcoming Jean-Claude van Damme actioner Hard Target, it was also 20th Century Fox`s decision to use a pair of nearly identical bow-and-arrow images to advertise two strongly similar spoof comedies -- Brooks` Men in Tights and Hot Shots, Part Deux -- with opening dates less than nine weeks apart.

There's a chance running back Knowshon Moreno's downhill, straight-ahead running style helps mask the Dolphins' run blocking deficiency. But coach Joe Philbin knows no matter how aggressively Moreno runs this season, it can't completely cover for the offensive line if they don't get better at run blocking. The Dolphins have totaled 108 yards rushing on 47 carries in two preseason games. "At the end of the day you have to block," Philbin said. "There's no, that I've been around in 31 years, great schemes that don't involve offensive linemen and tight ends blocking people.

The Miami Dolphins have added an eighth tight end to the team's training camp roster to compensate for a few injuries members in the unit are nursing. Evan Wilson, who spent part of the 2014 offseason with the Dallas Cowboys, was signed Tuesday night. Wilson, a rookie who is 6-foot-6, 253 pounds, takes receiver Raymond Webber's roster spot. Webber was signed just last week and played in the fourth-quarter of Miami's 16-10 exhibition loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Wilson appeared in 48 games for the University of Illinois, where he caught 27 passes for 300 yards and scored eight touchdowns.

For the better part of a week, it's become a routine sight. Long after most of his new teammates have sought refuge from the brutal South Florida heat, Raphael Akpejiori has remained outside on the Hurricanes' practice field, his eyes focused on the machine throwing him passes. Occasionally, the 6-foot-9, 241-pound athlete is able to wrap his hands, hands long used to handling basketballs, around the football and haul in a catch. But more than a few times during the first practices of Miami's season, footballs have fallen at Akpejiori's feet while assistant coaches and teammates stand nearby and offer guidance.

Dion Sims is a stereotypical NFL tight end. Like Jimmy Graham, Tony Gonzalez and others before him, Sims was a two-sport athlete who played basketball in college before he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2013. Though Sims doesn't have the resume of Gonzalez or Graham, his 6-foot-4 frame and speed has caught the eye of coaches and teammates this training camp now that he is combining his athletic ability with a better knowledge of the game. Midway through his second offseason, Sims said the light has turned on for him. "I'm a lot better, a lot smarter, better knowledge of the game and just know what to expect after seeing some stuff last year.

DAVIE - The Miami Dolphins signed tight end Raymond Webber, who has played for four NFL teams since 2011, to the 90-player training camp roster. Webber tried out for Miami on Thursday and was signed to replace Brett Brackett, who was released on Thursday, three days after signing with Miami. Webber, who is currently the University of Arkansas-Pine-Bluff's record holder for receptions in a game, yards in a game, receptions in a single season and yards in a single season, is 6-foot-2, 237 pounds.

Mel Brooks` spoof of Kevin Costner`s version of Errol Flynn`s version of the medieval adventurer Robin Hood means to be non-stop hilarious. It wasn`t for this writer. So much of Robin Hood: Men in Tights is painfully unfunny, including black rappers in medieval garb doing pirouettes and numerous toilet jokes. When the king (Richard Lewis) announces that he recently had "a good b.m.," there`s no question that the movie is aimed squarely at pre-adolescent sensibilities. In fairness to other people`s tastes, it must be noted that some folks in the crowded theater howled at the Arsenio Hall "woof" cheer and the Three Stooges-style physical comedy.

July 18, 2014 Q: As Dan Gilbert prepares to let LeBron James' inner circle overtake his franchise again, and amidst reports that Pat Riley and Micky Arison were holding the line on how they wanted the Heat organization to be run, which is the right approach? -- David, Staten Island. A: The reality is that when you can wield the type of power that LeBron can, you have no choice but to capitulate. While the reasoning for James taking a two-year deal from the Cavaliers has been the greater cut of television money that should be available in the 2016 offseason, I think it's because with the one-year opt out, he can continue to hold the hammer against management, at least present the threat of possibly leaving.

With the 2014 hurricane season just getting underway, there's good and bad news about Florida's largest property insurer. State-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is sitting on a $7.6 billion cushion. But recent reports of executives at Citizens leaving to take jobs with its vendors have reawakened doubts about the government corporation's management and its commitment to ethics. To their credit, Citizens CEO Barry Gilway and Chairman Chris Gardner have asked the insurer's inspector general to conduct an independent investigation of the coziness between government managers and the industry they do business with.